U.S. filmmakers claim 44 slots at Hot Docs festival

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - U.S. documentaries will
dominate the awards competition at this year's Hot Docs
Canadian International Documentary Festival, which unveiled its
official lineup Tuesday.

Hot Docs will open April 17 with U.S. director Sacha
Gervasi's "Anvil," a portrait the legendary Canadian heavy
metal band that had its bow in January at Sundance. Gervasi and
his camera follow the once-famous members of the band -- now in
their 50s and playing in dodgy Toronto bars -- as they embark
on a European tour.

Other U.S. titles bound for Toronto include world premieres
for Susan Gray's "Killer Poet," a portrait of an escaped
convicted killer who was on the run for two decades; Koji
Masutani's "Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived"; and
Gabriel Rhodes' "Behind the Glass."

Hot Docs -- whose 15th edition runs April 17-27 in Toronto
-- also will host international premieres for "At the Death
House Door," by Steve James and Peter Gilbert; Eric Daniel
Metzgar's "Life. Support. Music"; Erik Nelson's "Dreams With
Sharp Teeth," a portrait of writer Harlan Ellison; and "Waiting
for Hockney," in which filmmaker Julie Checkoway waits 10 years
for an audience with British artist David Hockney.

The festival will feature 44 U.S. titles in a lineup of 173
films from 36 countries.

The opening Canadian film at Hot Docs will be Sturla
Gunnarsson's "Air India 182," an investigation into the 1985
airplane bombing by Sikh terrorists that killed 329 passengers.

The National Film Board, Canada's public film production
entity, has five world bows at the festival, including Nettie
Wild's "Bevel Up," Tracey Deer's "Club Native" and Nik
Sheehan's "Flicker."